The Websand Top 10 best email newsletter listing 2020
Marketers use Websand to send email marketing, and that means we are responsible for the sending of a lot of email marketing. For a lot of people, email marketing means sending a newsletter. So we thought it time to put together our first list of the top 10 best email newsletters (in the history of the world).
What is an email newsletter?
Not every newsletter is actually a newsletter, so for the purposes of this blog let’s set some definitions. Our definition of a newsletter is a regular message that actually reports news or shares a selection of stories. The purpose is not to sell, but to drive engagement. These email newsletters are the cornerstone of businesses content marketing strategy.
What’s your favourite email newsletter?
Everyone has a favourite newsletter, a message that they look out for and read when it arrives. We’ve got our own views and our own favourites, however, to add some balance to this exercise we asked a few friends of Websand to find out which newsletters they always pay attention to when it hits their inbox.
So here’s list of the best email newsletters, in no particular order, starting with…
GAMESINDUSTRY.BIZ
According to a friend of Websand and gaming industry expert, Nina Cliff, Gamesindustry.biz is the one thing she can’t do without.
“GamesIndustry.boz is the best games ‘business’ newsletter and site for me. Best for quality of content and stories, it’s the one most games companies aim to be in over others I feel (for that reason). Well curated and written and they have great writers – Rob Fahey is my fave”.
NORTH EAST TIMES
Full disclosure, North East Times is a Websand client, and we love how they use the platform. NE Times have established themselves as the must-read business publication in the North East of England. They’ve achieved that by producing great content combined with great design. The magazine always looks fantastic, and the fact that they’ve carried that across into their email newsletter makes it a must read. Most importantly their audience love it, the engagement statistics are always way above industry average.
SETH GODIN’S BLOG
We are long term Seth Godin fans at Websand. The fella is a genius. You should read his books and listen to his podcast.
Like most of Seth’s work, his newsletter cuts through the crap by keeping things simple and easy to understand.
His daily newsletter isn’t flashy – it’s just text – but it’s a welcome read to refresh your thinking on a hard day, or if a problem needs solving.
QUARTZ OBSESSIONS
Quartz (qz.com) is a great news site that is growing in popularity (fun fact – it’s funded by a Japanese content giants Uzabase). The Quartz obsessions is a newsletter that is sent most days and covers all kinds of crazy stuff, from cassette tapes to Tetris.
It’s an email newsletter that always looks great, with often remarkable content. It’s an email newsletter that’s stat-packed with the types of things that only a true obsessive would fully understand the selected subject.
When it hits my inbox, it gets read, so it’s on the list.
BIG REVOLUTION
An email newsletter from another old friend of Websand, Martin Bryant. Martin is the ex-editor in chief at the Next Web, and a tech-focused journalist of the highest pedigree. Every morning, Martin’s Big Revolution newsletter gives you an easy to read scan of what is going on in technology and media in the UK (and beyond).
It’s not pretty, it’s just a listing of what you might have missed. Perfect to stimulate new ideas or plan for what issues might be hiding around the corner.
If you are in ‘tech’ it’s well worth a read.
THE HUSTLE
You’ve probably heard of the Hustle. It’s an email newsletter that has grown to over 1 million users, and runs massive ‘events’ targeted at the startup community in the US. Rather than being a just the normal digest listing of news, the Hustle is very opinionated, and that is why I love it. They find a story that you might have missed and fill out the key bits you need to know.
It helps that it’s often hilarious. The Hustle is one to read, so it’s on the list.
BRAND NEW X WEEKLY
This email newsletter is recommended by friend of Websand and founder of artsupply, Steve Glasper. Steve is a great designer and keen to make sure he is ahead of the game with the latest design news. The Brand New X Weekly email newsletter does just that.
Of course, because it’s showing off the latest brand designs and updates it looks beautiful. But it’s damn useful, and not without the odd bit of quirky stuff too.
If you want some design inspiration, you could do a lot worse than checking this email newsletter out. So on Steve’s recommendation it’s on the list.
The Medium Update
I’ve added this to the list, as the Medium email newsletter always points me to a really interesting blog post I might have otherwise missed. It’s a summary of content that should peak my interest based on my Medium behaviour rather than a traditional email newsletter.
Unlike the other email newsletters on this list, it’s not written or curated, it’s automated. But it’s automated for me (and we like that), the content in my Medium email newsletter is likely to be slightly different to yours.
But heck, it works for me. So it’s on the list, we are on Medium so if you sign up, one of our posts might make it to your digest (imagine that).
CB INSIGHTS
This email newsletter is the second one recommended by a friend of Websand and founder of Room.io Steve Glasper. CBI Insights is Steve’s preferred source of Business, start-up and technology trend insights.
This is not your normal business email newsletter. Not only is it stuffed with useful information, the content has character and heaps of personality. Unlike the Hustle or Quartz, CB Insights aren’t a content business, they sell data insights, and this email newsletter will be a great way of generating business for them.[vc_column width=”1/3″]
THE WEBSAND SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT
You’ve got to believe in what you are doing, so of course, our own weekly (ish) email newsletter is on the list. It’s read by 000’s of people all over the world, so we must be doing something right. The concept is simple, share some tips related to email marketing / marketing automation, and 3 other stories we’ve found that we think you might find interesting. It’s usually news related to startups, data, business, media or something remarkable.
What lights up your inbox?
So that’s our best email newsletter list. Hope you find it inspirational or at the very least, useful. If you are still reading, we’ve got three things to ask.
1) If you think you need something adding to this list, get in touch, the disqus thread is below.
2) Spread the list, share the post to your favourite social channel.
3) Need help? Book a chat or sign up here for a free Websand trial.
Thanks for reading.